Men fall to Spartans over weekend, women look to triumph
By DAN MARCUS
Staff Writer
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Sophomore Patrick Cole played a solid match and nearly beat number 12 regionally ranked player Will Drougas in flight one singles. Cole’s match ended 3-6, 7-6, 11-9. Other close matches included Frank Mosconi’s match against Ben McClaren, which ended 7-5, 6-1.
The number one doubles pairing of Cole and freshman Kevin Kacer lost their flight one doubles match 8-6.
Assistant Coach Greg Kreitzer believes his team was not intimidated going into the match against Case Western, saying he thought the team could compete and ultimately win the match.
“We have not played a match against a team the same caliber as Case all year, and this exposed us to the level of play that we will be seeing for much of the remainder of the season,” Cole said.
The Gators look forward to their spring break trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina. Again, the team will face solid competition there with several regionally ranked teams.
The men’s team will focus on their doubles game going into spring break competition. They look to be more aggressive and more effective in closing down the net.
The women’s team will travel to Cleveland this weekend to play Case Western. The Case Western’s women’s team is also very strong, ranked 14th in the Central Region.
Last year, the Gators upset the Spartans 5-4 and eye doing the same this year.
The Spartans look to avenge a close defeat to Denison in last weekend’s match, and enter the match this weekend with an overall record of 6-2, while the Gator’s are 3-3 and ranked 20th in the region.
“Case is definitely a solid team, and we know it’s going to be a battle, but we definitely know we can beat them,” said Kretizer. “They are a similar team from last year.”
The Gators have three seniors in their starting lineup, Janna Dickerson, Elyse Schmitt, and Deborah Landau.
“Our seniors play in three slots out of the six, therefore there is a lot of experience out on the court,” Schmitt said. “It will be up to the seniors to remind everyone not to get ahead of themselves, be patient, and play our game.”
